Collapsible molding dies



May 19, 1925;

1,538,471 L. G. COPEMAN COLLAPSIBLE MOLDING DIES F11 d Jan. 17. 1924 4/Sheets-Sheet 1 1; 1

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May19,192 5. 1,538,471

* L. GVCQPEMAN COLLAPSIBLE MOLDING DIES Filed Jan. 17. 1924 4 Sheets-Sheet 2- May 19, 1925, I 1,538,471

L. G. COPEMAN 4 COLLAPSIBLE MOLDING DIES Filed Jan. 17-. 1924 4 Sheets -Sheet 5 61cm my I gwlxmfoz I ZZo d fapman.

May 19, 1925.

L. G. COP EMAN COLLAPSIBLE MOLDING DIES 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Jan. 17. 1924 x J. \\\m YA gvwentoz Z@(Z 6 (r pe/04 Patented May 19, 1925;

. LLOYD e. comm/LAN,

GOLLAPSIBLE PATENT OFFICE...

or mm, MICHIGAN.

MOLDING DIES.

Applic'ationfitcd January 17, 1924:. Serial No. 686,884.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LLoYD a citizen of'the United States, residing at Flint, inthe county of Genesee and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Collapsible Molding Dies, of which the following is a speci' lication.

This invention relates to collapsible moldmg dies used primarily for casting stone refrigerator shells. It is sometimes {desirable to cast refr gerator, shells havlng walls.

of funiformthickness. To cast such walls requires dies that will recede from the casting as the dies arewithdrawn. It has been customary to accomplishthis by providing sufficient draft to the cast shell, i. e.,'having,

the bottom of the casting of greater'thickness than the top; so that as the inner die is removed the die will'pull away from the surface o fthe casting. 1

The object of the present invention is to form a shellcasting having walls of uniform thickness, the inner dies or coresjbeing withdrawn "from the casting in sections, the same receding from the casting as they are withdrawn. Another object is to provide collapsible dies which can be readily and easilylocated and locked into place but which are readily removed after the casting has set. H v p In the drawings I have; shown simply a collapsible mold for forming a rectangular shell but obviously this principle of tying the collapsible molds together utilized in a more complicated. casting; it simply means the addition'of more rectangular molds all joined together to accomplish the desired result." I

'IiiFigs. 11 and IQIhave shown a moditied construction showing a; more complicated casting. It will be obvious that any complicated casting canbe made without departing from the principle of the invention. I p 1 In the drawings:

1 is a plan view of the inner core or dies assembled together.

Fig. 2 is a detail in perspective of a portion of a corner post used for tying the collapsible mold parts together.

Fig. 3is a detail in perspective of one corner of one of the side members of the collapsible die.

Fig. i is a detailin perspective showing could be Y how the side member is fitted onto the bot- Gr. Cornrram' tom plate.

Fig. 5 is a section on the line 55 of Fig. 4, showing the locking means.

Fig. 6 is a detail in perspective of a portion of the anchoring bracket.

Fig. 7 1s a section 'on the l1I16.7-7 0f Fig. 8 i

s a transverse section through the mold parts SllOWlllQ the nner die inverted and the outer dies secured to the base plate for pouring the cement.

9 is a section onthe line 9-9 of i i Fig. 8.

Fig. 10 is a sectional detail showing how the side members are withdrawn from the.

casting.

Fig. 11 is a plan view of a modified form of casting.

Fig. 12 is a section on-the line 12-12 of Fig. 11.

The inner core or die'is formed of a bottom wall a, side walls 6 and c. The bot-.

tom is constructed with a groove d formed by cutting away a portion of the wall and securing to said cut-away portion a strip 6. The strip 6 is of; less width than the cut away portion. which leaves the groove cl adjacent the inner edge of the wallbut set in slightly from the edge of. the plate; The wall a; is preferably made of wood or other fibrous material andthe strip member 6 is of metal... as it is this portion of the bottom which takes. the most wear. Secured to the side walls are L'shaped brackets f provided with the downturned tongues g which are adapted to engage in the groove 01 as the sidewalls are fitted'onto the bottom. A stud h is carried bythe wall a and eX- tends through a slot i cut into the L-shaped bracket f. A plurality of these studsand slots are used. The side walls are correctly located with respect to the bottom by the grooves and studs. it thumbnut j is screwed onto each stud 71. and securely holds the side walls in the correct position.

After the sidewalls have been secured to the bottom the corner posts 70 are then slipped into place. Here we have a novel way oflocking the side walls together by means of a tongue-andrgroove arrangement between theposts and the side walls. More in detail, referring to Figs. will be seen that the side walls are formed principally of wood or other fibrous mate.

2, 3 and 4, it y the mold and to form a rial. the edges that abut against the post being bound with a special form of angle iron casting which provided with a tongue m. This tongue is inclined to the vertical as :thown in Figs. 3 and 4, and the posts 70 are also bound with a metal shell which is provided with the grooves 71 in the side thereof adapted to register with the inclined tongues m. These posts are fitted onto the corners between the side walls and as the same is forced in. the sliding tongue-andgroove arrangement brings the post to its proper position and securely locks the end walls together. The side walls are formed with a hook or stop 0 (See ,F and the posts are provided with corresponding notched portions 7 which are engaged by said hooks so as to lock the posts and side walls together.

Refer now to Figs. 7' to 10 inclusive. The inner core or box formed of these walls and posts is now inverted and set onto a plate 9. This plate is provided with a rectangular rib 1" for locating the inner box core thereon (see Fig. 8). The outer dies 8 are formed of a plurality of walls secured together,

which are set onto the plate and are bolted thereto by means of the studs and thumb nuts 6. The mold is now ready to be filled with the casting material. The material I use for casting refrigerator shells is preferably cry-chloride cement whichis poured while cold, the characteristic of which permit the same to readily flow about when the material is set.

To withdraw the dies from the casting, the complete mold is turned over, the plate Q is removed so that access may be had to the interior of the inner boa: core; the thumb nuts 7' are removed and one of the side walls is lifted vertically. A reference to Fig. 10 will make plain the purpose of the inclined tougiie-and-groovebetween the side walls and the corner posts. As the wall is lifted upwardly the tongue-and-groovc arrangement causes the wall to recede from the inner face of the casting and permits the ready removal of the walls, leaving the corner posts in place.

The corner posts may now be knocked in and removed and the bottom lifted out. The outer die plates are then unbolted and are merely drawn away from the casting.

By utilizing this slanting tongue-and groove arrangement between the walls and corner posts, it is possible to withdraw the inner core without disturbing the casting. Such a collapsible die permits the casting of a shell having a uniform thickness, and also a casting having a tapered wall; that is, a. wall having a, thickness greater at one end their at the other. By referring to Fig. 10 it will be seen that the upper part of the shell, designated: X could be of greater solid stone casting thickness than the lower part as shown by the dotted line, it being necessary however, that the inclination of the tongue and grooves should have a greater angle with respect to the vertical than the taper of the wall so that as the side wall is lifted it will recede from the casting. If the taper to the shell runs in the opposite direction, the side walls can be lifted straight up, through the use of the tongue-and-groove permits a better removal of the core and prevents the breaking or scraping of the casting by the removal of the core members.

lV'hat I claim is:

1. In a molding apparatus, a collapsible molding core provided with side walls and a bottom wall, and means requiring the side walls to draw in away from the casting as the side walls are removed from the bottom wall.

2-. In a molding apparatus, a collapsible molding core provided with side walls and a bottom wall which lit and lock together and in which the side walls may be disengaged from the bottom wall and from each other by a movement directly away from the bottom wall, but which at the same time tends toward the center of the core.

3. Ina molding apparatus, a collapsible core provided with and a bottom wall and corner posts, all of the said elements locking together and the corner posts arranged tov require the side walls to move inwardly toward the center of the core when the same are drawn away from each other and from the bottom wall.

at. In a molding apparatus, a collapsible core comprising a plurality of side walls and bottom wall and grooved corner posts for locking the said elements together, the said grooves in the corner posts being so. arranged as to cause the side walls to tend away from the casting when the side walls are withdrawn.

5. In a moldingapparatus, a collapsible core provided with aplurality of sidewalls, bottom wall, and interlocking corner posts which are provided with inclined grooves, the said side walls interlocking with the posts and in the said inclined groove whereby when the side walls are withdrawn from the core they assume a movement toward the center of the core to separate from the cast ing.

6. In a molding apparatus, a collapsible core comprising a plurality of side walls, a. bottom wall provided with a plurality of grooves, the said side walls being arranged to fit within the said grooves to locate them with respect to the bottom wall, and means for locking the side walls to each other and also to the bottom wall in detachable relation so the core can be collapsed.

7. In a molding apparatus, a collapsible core comprising a bottom wall provided with a phuality of side walls a plm'ality of grooves, a plurality of side Walls having angle members onthe bottom provided with lips adapted to fit into the said grooves of the bottom wall to locate the side walls on the bottom wall, and means for locking the angle members to the bottom wall in detachable relation.

8. In a molding apparatus, a collapsible core comprising a bottom wall With a plucorner posts provided with inclined grooves 1 4 into which the side walls tongues lit at their ends.

In testimony whereof I have afiixed my signature.

- LL()YD G. COPEMAN. 

